We all know that mobile operators are constantly trying to find an advertising tagline that works, one that resonates with consumers so much that it becomes part of everyday vocabulary. The most successful tagline in telecom was probably “pin drop” all those years ago with Sprint’s long distance service.
Kids, time for a history lesson: back when mom and dad had just got out of college, you had to pay for long distance service separately from the other calls you made. These calls were made on things called “telephones,” which had a wire connecting them to the wall – there was no Siri, screen, Google, camera or video on these phones. Anyway, back then, Sprint claimed its voice clarity was so good that you could hear a pin drop, hence the tag line. And a lady named Candice Bergen was their spokesperson. Think of her as a reality star with a brain and class and you have the idea.
Sprint’s campaign was massively successful and the line stuck. Sprint cornered the “best network” image. In the last few decades, they have comprehensively lost that spot. Today, Verizon Wireless, of course, claims to have the best cellular network. And judging by the results of iGR’s recent consumer survey, consumers agree with Verizon Wireless.
One of the fun things we did in this survey (we asked a few fun questions – more on those in subsequent columns) was to ask consumers to match recent advertising tag lines with the mobile operator that uses that line. Obviously, the big four operators use a variety of ad lines, so we focused on (what we thought were) the more well known ones.
The bad news for the mobile operators not named Verizon Wireless is that their ad lines are not resonating with consumers. And worse, they may actually be helping Verizon Wireless. Let me explain.
Consider “Stronger. Faster. More reliable.” This is a Sprint ad line and obviously promotes their network and all the improvements they claim to have made recently. Bad news: just 5.4% of 1,020 consumers surveyed correctly identified this line as belonging to Sprint, while 12.1% said it belonged to AT&T and 15.6% said it was Verizon’s. Nearly two-thirds said they did not know. Verizon Wireless execs are now calling Sprint to thank them for helping with Verizon Wireless’ advertising.
How about Verizon Wireless’ “A better network” slogan? The survey showed 12.9% correctly identified this one, while 6.8% thought it belonged to AT&T. Verizon Wireless is not helping itself much here; yes, please associate “best network” with Verizon Wireless, but why not just say “best network” and not complicate the issue?
Next exhibit: “Strongest 4G LTE signal.” This is an AT&T tagline – 10.1% got this correct. But 6.7% thought it was T-Mobile US’ and a cool 19.3% said it was Verizon Wireless’. Yet again, Verizon Wireless benefits from another operator trying to claim the “best network.” And again, 60% said they did not know.
Finally, how about “The world’s best network” slogan? This again is a Sprint claim (not sure how they can claim “world’s” on this one) that just 3.1% of people got right. But, good news for the “New Jersey boys” – 21.9% thought this was a Verizon Wireless ad line (as did I!).
So the moral of this story is “keep it simple” and find a claim you can make your own. Hijacking the “best network” claim from Verizon Wireless is going to be difficult and is confusing to consumers. For Verizon Wireless, keep it simple – just say “the best network.” Just as Sprint did a few decades ago, find something new and original.
Iain Gillott, founder and president of iGR, is an acknowledged wireless and mobile industry authority and an accomplished presenter. Gillott has been involved in the wireless industry, as both a vendor and analyst, for more than 20 years. The company was founded in 2000 as iGillottResearch in order to provide in-depth market analysis and data focused exclusively on the wireless and mobile industry. Before founding iGR, Gillott was a group VP in IDC’s telecommunications practice, managing IDC’s worldwide research on wireless and mobile communications and Internet access, telecom brands, residential and small business telecommunications and telecom billing services. Prior to joining IDC, Gillott was in various technical roles and a proposal manager at EDS (now Hewlett-Packard), responsible for preparing new business proposals to wireless and mobile operators.
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